The city of Kumamoto in southern Japan wants to use robots to allow students to participate in classes virtually, in a bid to combat rising school truancy, city officials said. Children will be able to control robots at home that will represent them at school, allowing them to participate in lessons and discussions with their classmates. The robots, one meter high, will be autonomous. Students will be able to pass them around the school grounds and even have them participate in events, according to the media.
After virtual classes, robots
“Communicating through these robots isn’t completely realistic, but it can at least give some sense of reality to children who are still insecure and afraid to interact with others,” said Kumamoto Municipality official Maki Yoshizato. “We hope that this initiative will alleviate their psychological fears,” he added.
This is not the first time that the city of Kumamoto has used new technologies to address school absenteeism. She had already launched virtual classrooms in the metaverse. The municipality plans to experiment with these robots in November, subject to budgetary approval. “It is extremely important to give students who are unable to attend school more options to study,” Kumamoto Mayor Kazufumi Onishi said last month.
School absenteeism hits record highs in Japan
Like other countries, Japan has seen a rise in school absenteeism following the Covid-19 pandemic, with reasons ranging from difficulty fitting in to bullying, according to a government survey. Across the country, the number of truant students at primary and secondary school levels reached a record high of 244,940 children in 2021, according to the latest study from the Ministry of Education.